Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Geelong are backing star forward Jeremy Cameron to regain AFL form, even taunting critics who wonder if he should be dropped.
In his second game back from shoulder surgery, Cameron only had nine disposals last Friday night in the elimination final win over Carlton.
He played mainly on the wing and in defence against the Blues.
Cameron has lingering issues after breaking his right arm in last year’s grand final loss and also needed right shoulder surgery in July.
But Cats coach Chris Scott and assistant Nathan Buckley strongly endorsed Cameron. They noted the five-time All Australian and two-time Coleman Medallist kicked 10 goals earlier this season against the Western Bulldogs.
Geelong will travel to Perth for Friday night’s semi-final against Fremantle.
“He hasn’t been perfect during the year, but in a perverse way the time he missed with the shoulder (surgery) … it probably has put him in a position where he’s better now than if he’d played all the way through,” Scott told AFL360 on Monday night.
“I remember there were a few questions earlier in the year … he kicked 10 that week. He has that capacity, we’re not sitting here thinking we’re just going to nurse him through.
“Maybe we’ve done that a little bit the last two weeks – he’s played in a slightly different position – but we’re pretty confident he’s building.”
Friday night was also the first game back from an ankle injury for star Geelong midfielder Max Holmes.
“The two guys we played who are a little bit underdone, Cameron and Holmes, got through really well,” Scott said.
“It’s not like we were getting match practice into them in a final, but we genuinely thought, based on their preparation, that if we could get through this game and they could get some game time, they’d be better placed the next week.
“Without getting ahead of ourselves, that’s the way it’s shaping.”
Apart from his assistant coaching role at the Cats, Buckley also continues to work in the media.
When fellow Fox Footy commentators Jordan Lewis and Jack Riewoldt speculated about Cameron’s place in the Geelong team during Monday night’s On The Couch program, Buckley was even more bullish.
“If you’re coaching, I’m guaranteeing you’re playing Jeremy Cameron,” Buckley said.
“I will make the point that the last time he was questioned, I think he kicked 10 goals that week. So just keep going, boys.”
